Anchor construction

ABSTRACT

An anchor for tethering a small boat has a body provided with flukes adapted removably to be embedded in the ground along a body of water at an angle of about 45° to the vertical. The body has a flange which overlies a portion of the body and the flange has a bridge juncture with the body that facilitates embedding the flukes at such angle. The flange is inclined to the body at such angle as to minimize a force-transmitting moment arm between the flange and the flukes.

[0001] This invention relates to an anchor construction especiallyadapted for use in tethering a small boat or personal watercraft to ashore so as to prevent unintentional drifting of the boat or watercraft.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Anchor structures for use in tethering small boats, such ascanoes, rowboats, rafts, and personal watercraft have been proposedheretofore. Most of the proposals constitute simply rocks or rods orconventional anchors to which the boat may be secured by a painter,thereby enabling the boat to remain in the water of a stream or lake andavoiding having to drag the boat from the water onto land. Most of suchsecuring devices function satisfactorily as long as wind speeds,current, and wave action are mild, but otherwise do not have the abilityto provide secure tethering of the boat.

[0003] A desirable anchor for use with small boats should be small insize, light in weight, easily embedded in and removed from the ground,and yet be operable to maintain a boat tethered even in wind and currentspeeds which are somewhat above those normally encountered. An anchorconstructed in accordance with the invention possesses thesecharacteristics.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] An anchor constructed in accordance with the invention comprisesa flat, substantially planar body having opposite ends to one of whichis secured a flange that extends in a direction away from the plane ofthe body and overlies the adjacent portion of the body. At the oppositeend of the body is a pair of wedge-shaped flukes that may be embedded ina bank or shore adjacent a body of water. The flange is joined to thebody by an arcuate bridge which provides a convenient surface on which afoot of the user may bear to embed the flukes in the ground. The flangeoverlies the anchor body at an angle of about 45°, thereby facilitatingembedding of the flukes in the ground at such an angle to the verticalas to resist withdrawal of the flukes as a result of substantiallyhorizontal forces exerted on the anchor such as are generated by windand/or current and wave action of a body of water.

[0005] The flukes are formed by a V-shaped notch extending inwardly fromone end of the body. From the opposite end of the body extends a flangewhich is inclined outwardly from the body, but overlies the latter andis joined to the body by a brace. Either the flange or the brace, orboth, may be provided with an opening in which one end of a painter maybe secured, the opposite end of the painter being secured to the boat.

[0006] At the juncture of the body and the flange is a bridge which maybe utilized by a person to assist in embedding the fluke in the groundadjacent a body of water. The bridge is arcuate and provides aconvenient step on which a foot of the user may bear to apply a force onthe anchor to embed the flukes in the ground. The bowing of the bridgeand the inclination of the flange to the anchor body provides a visualand mechanical aid in embedding the flukes in the ground at anappropriate angle to the vertical, thereby increasing the ability of theanchor to resist forces applied by a boat and its painter in directionsto dislodge the flukes from the ground.

THE DRAWING

[0007] A preferred embodiment of the anchor is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing wherein:

[0008]FIG. 1 is a front elevational view;

[0009]FIG. 2 is a side elevational view; and

[0010]FIG. 3 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in sectionand illustrating the anchor in a position to tether a boat to the groundadjacent a body of water.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] An anchor constructed in accordance with the presently preferredembodiment of the invention is designated generally by the referencecharacter 1 and comprises a flat, generally planar body 2 formed ofsheet aluminum or other suitable material of appropriate thickness andhaving opposite ends 3 and 4. Inwardly from the end 3 extends a V-shapednotch 5 which forms a pair of wedge-shaped flukes 6 each of whichterminate in a pointed tip 7. The notch terminates short of the end 4 ofthe body and the flukes 6 preferably are of uniform area.

[0012] A flange 8 is joined to and extends from the end 4 of the body 2.The flange comprises a planar tongue 9 and the juncture between thetongue and the body 2 comprises a bowed bridge section 10. The tongue 9extends in a direction away from the body 2 at an angle of about 45° soas to be spaced from and overlie one side of the body. The tongue 9terminates at a level corresponding substantially to that of the base ofthe notch 5.

[0013] The flange 8 forms a convenient handle for transporting theanchor and has a width less than that of the body 2. The flangepreferably is centered with respect to the opposite edges of the body.

[0014] A reinforcing brace 11 spans and is secured to the body 2 and thetongue 9. The brace inhibits movement of the tongue toward and away fromthe body.

[0015] The tongue 9 has an opening 12 therein and the brace 11 has asimilar opening 13 for a purpose presently to be explained.

[0016] The anchor is adapted to be used in those instances in which asmall boat, raft, or personal watercraft is to be tethered to the shore,designated 14, along a river, lake, or other body of water 15 so thatthe boat may remain in the water without having to be dragged onto theshore. This objective may be accomplished by embedding the flukes 6 intothe shore 14 at an angle of about 45° to the vertical, and the embeddingof the flukes in the ground at such angle may be facilitated by aperson's placing his foot on the bridge section 10 and exerting a forcethereon to force the flukes into the ground. The angular relationshipbetween the body 2 and the tongue 9 will facilitate the angularorientation of the flukes to the vertical. When the flukes have beenembedded to the desired depth within the ground of the shore 14 one endof a painter 15 may be secured either to the tongue 9 via the opening 12or the brace 11 via the opening 13 and the opposite end of the paintermay be secured to the boat (not shown).

[0017] When the anchor is placed in the position shown in FIG. 3generally horizontal forces transmitted from the boat to the anchor viathe painter 15 will be resisted by the embedded flukes. For the flukesto be dislodged from the ground by such forces the anchor will have tobe rotated clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 3, and suchrotation will be resisted by the angular position of the flukes relativeto the ground. Such rotation can only be accomplished by the combinationof an upward and clockwise movement which requires the earth to theright of the body 2 to be displaced. The resistance of the earth to suchdisplacement therefore assists in retaining the flukes embedded in theground, thereby ensuring secure tethering of the boat.

[0018] The angular relationship between the flange 8 and the body 2results in there being virtually no moment arm between such parts whenthe body is embedded in the round at the preferred angle to thevertical. As a consequence, the tendency of the flukes to be pulled fromthe ground by generally horizontally transmitted forces is minimal.

[0019] The disclosed embodiment is representative of a presentlypreferred form of the invention, but is intended to be illustrativerather than definitive thereof. The invention is defined in the claims.

I claim:
 1. An anchor construction comprising a body having oppositeends, said body terminating at one of its ends in at least one fluke andat its opposite end in a flange, said flange being joined at one endthereof to said opposite end of said body, said flange being inclined toand overlying said body and having a free end terminating at a levelbetween the opposite ends of said body.
 2. The construction according toclaim 1 wherein said body has a pair of flukes.
 3. The constructionaccording to claim 1 wherein said body has a notch extending inwardly ofsaid body from said one end thereof to form a pair of said flukes. 4.The construction according to claim 1 including a brace extendingbetween and joined to said body and said flange adjacent said oppositeend of said body.
 5. The construction according to claim 1 wherein saidbody is planar.
 6. The construction according to claim 1 wherein saidflange is joined to said opposite end of said body by a bridge section.7. The construction according to claim 6 wherein said bridge section isbowed.
 8. An anchor construction comprising a flat, planar body havingopposite ends, a notch at one end of said body forming a pair ofside-by-side flukes at said one end of said body, a flange having a freeend spaced from said body and a bridge at the other end thereof joinedto said body adjacent its opposite end, and a brace spanning and joiningsaid flange and said body at a level between the opposite ends of saidbody.
 9. The construction according to claim 8 wherein said bridge formsa smoothly bowed joint between said flange and said body.
 10. Theconstruction according to claim 8 including means for securing one endof a painter to said flange.
 11. The construction according to claim 8including means for securing one end of a painter to said brace.
 12. Theconstruction according to claim 8 wherein said flange has a width lessthan that of said body.
 13. The construction according to claim 8wherein said notch is V-shaped and extends inwardly of said body fromsaid one end thereof toward said opposite end, said notch terminating ata level between said ends of said body.
 14. The construction accordingto claim 8 wherein said flange has a width less than that of said bodyand is substantially centered with respect to the width of said body.